I need help!

[Lamont Burns]

Just pieced together a brand new system. Trying to start up and not getting anywhere. Here is set-up and description of problem:

amd 2500+ with heatsink and fan
Asus a7v8x-x kt400
ddr 2100 (will run at lower than 333 FSB)
Ti4200 64MB
MSI 52X cd-rom
Seagate 80 GB 7200

I connected everything, plugged in power and hooked up a monitor. Mind you everything is never used except vid card. When I boot the fans in system run, power LED is on, HD and CD lights are on, have the Motherboard disk in CD drive at boot, but the monitor goes from the initial green when powered to almost immediate orange as if on standby.

I unconnected and reconnected the Vid card, but same thing happens. Anyone had a similar problem?

100% sure monitor works. Using it now. I really hope this is not a processor problem, I spent 85 bucks on it. That is another question. I plugged in the CPU, locked it in, and placed the heatsink and fan on...does it matter which way it is put on, as long as it is latched down? That is to say, a 180 degree rotation would never be needed?

Any and all suggestions welcome. A friend helped me build my last system, then I moved. Should have known better not to go solo.

Help!

 

[jukeboxjoe]

Does the 2500 have a 333 bus? And you're using PC2100 instead of PC2700 ram? Can that be a problem?

Yep, the heatsink definitely matters. It's gotta be on right or you're asking for problems.

Also, is your bios set to boot from the cd and is the cd actually bootable (having windows startup files on it?? or do you install the drivers after boot is finished?

Your vid files can cause the monitor to do such a thing when windows tries to load the vid driver and fails.
I just built a system with a Via chipset and used a Geforce 4 vid card which wouldn't boot due to driver conflicts with the Via 4 in 1 drivers in Win98. So I got a Radeon which works fine on that system. But I'm having problems again with WinXP finding the hardware but giving me error messages when I try to install the Geforce card. I didn't get the colors you're getting, but after 3 or 4 secs the monitor went into sleep mode and the system locked in Win98. In Win XP it just gives me an error, but still boots and displays ok even though it's "not recognised by the OS.

You're at the right place to get help though. I'm a beginner so I know where I would look but there are plenty other Wizards here to help you out.

Good Luck!

 

[foofoo]

hi,
i take it that you are not able to get to the bios screen, muck less start to install windows.
first off, your ddr2100 memory is too slow and most likely at the default settings of the motherboard it's trying to be run at ddr2700 speed.
second, it definitely makes a differnece which way the hs is oriented on athlon xp cpus. most hsf have a notch that goes toward the base of the release handle. there should have been instruction in your mb manual or your retail amd kit. check for them for a better picture than my words are saying.
be sure that your jumpers to the case are correctly plugged into the headers.
do you get any beep error codes during the attempted boot?

when you know you have a problem, the best thing to do is to try to get to the bios with the mb out of the case and sitting on some insulative surface. put in the bare minimum needed to post i.e. mb, cpu + hsf, 1 stick memory, video card, kbd, mouse, floppy (needed on some mb).

good luck

 

[Lamont Burns]

anyone else have some other suggestions, or similar experiences?

Thanks for the input thus far too.